IRELAND FELL TO an 86-63 defeat to Switzerland in their first ever FIBA Basketball World Cup home game at the National Basketball Arena.
Mark Keenan’s side got to within five points at the start of the third quarter before the Swiss pulled clear at the finish to go top of Group A in the European Pre-Qualifiers.
The first points of the contest came courtesy of a pair of Jordan Blount free throws before the visitors moved in front following an Anthony Polite three.
The away side led the contest throughout after that with Ireland captain Sean Flood’s three and a fastbreak and layup from Lorcan Murphy seeing Ireland trail 9-7 just before the midpoint.
Flood landed his second from the three-point line with a little over two and a half minutes to go and Ireland were 16-12 behind at that stage. The final points of the quarter came from Natan Jurkovitz’s layup as the Swiss led 22-14.
Ireland sought a fast start to the second quarter and, two minutes in, Neil Randolph provided it with a pair of baskets from the three-point line. The Swiss responded with a nine-point run, Boris Mbala’s three among their scores to put them 34-21 up.
Four minutes into the third quarter and Ireland trailed 42-37, but Switzerland again pulled clear with a pair of threes to lead 52-40.
A Conor Quinn three kickstarted the fourth for Ireland, but the Swiss offence continued to pick up points, a shot clock buzzer-beater from the corner by Polite had the away side 74-48 ahead three minutes in.
Ireland finished strongly, a nicely finished corner two by Treacy was followed by a trio of threes from Blount, but it was Switzerland who emerged as 86-63 victors.
“Disappointing, we were in the game in the first half, but it just got away from us in the third quarter in the space of a two or three minutes,” head coach Keenan said.
“They didn’t shoot the ball great from the three-point line in the first half, but jeez they came out gunning in the second half, so every little slip up and rotation we lost on defence we were buried with a three it felt like.
“The lads battled ’til the end, but still very disappointing, especially after a good showing in Kosovo, so just got a little bit flat.”
Ireland’s next FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European Qualifiers are in November with two home games against Azerbaijan on 21 November 21 followed by the visit of Kosovo three days later to the National Basketball Arena.
